I have been somewhat overwhelmed by the amount of comments and messages I’ve had about Part 1 of ‘How did I get here?’ – so much so I’m struggling with Part 2 as it’s very much about the planning of my career change as opposed to the emotion. I’m sure it will come but for now I’ve taken a pause because today my head has turned a little more towards the other people in my life who are making big changes to their lives following a catalyst to make that change.
On the back of that last blog I was pretty emotional when a friend I haven’t spoken to for many years contacted me to say she’d read my blog and had her own story to tell. It’s not my place to share that here but what really got me was when she said ‘… and then like you I’m going to take life by the horns and start living again.’
One of the reasons for leaving corporate life (no – it wasn’t just about wine!) is that I just felt my values were not aligning with theirs. It was nothing to do with the company – it would be the same at any big corporate in the current environment. I’ve worked in Financial Services for 17 years at some of the biggest banks and insurers and they’re under incredible pressure which I absolutely get; but when I started out as an internal communicator the passion I had for it was because I could make a difference to people. And over the years I felt that had changed.
I want to add value. And my friend’s message today has made me feel like I’ve added value – in such a simple way.
It then prompted me to contact another friend – one who I met when I did my internal communications diploma. She also told me her story which I half knew about but heard more about tonight. Yesterday, she sent me a message about the Part 1 blog to say I was brave – I responded by saying I thought she was way braver than me. She put me right on that tonight – saying that it doesn’t matter what the challenge is, we’re all going through it and it’s our challenge to go through.
I have another friend who I call my doppelgänger – not by the way we look but personality wise she’s my twin. We live in different countries, we have completely different friends and that’s one of the reasons why I think we work so well (as well of course as her being just bloody fabulous and being like me!) – it’s just someone out of the usual circle. She’s had her own challenges over the past couple of years and when I think back to the day we had ‘the’ conversation to where she is now and what she has planned I am overcome with awe! We’ve messaged back and forth over the past couple of days as I’ve been adjusting to this new life and one of the messages she sent to me was ‘unfortunately s*** things happen – it’s how you choose to live with it that I think is important’.
We all have friends who’ve gone through a lot – some of my closest friends and family have had issues with their family, problems at work, death of a loved one, big relationship break ups, health issues including cancer and depression – but I see all of them either coming through or who have made it through the other side.
I think that’s something to celebrate and I’m turning round this idea in my head about how we bring all these wonderful people together to inspire others.
‘Uncorking the Finer Things’ was devised with the help of my friends Michelle and Carmen – it’s not just about wine, it’s about finding the finer things of life and tonight I feel that finding and celebrating all these fabulous people who have decided not to wallow but grab the world by its horns and change their path is definitely a fine thing.
Uncorking The Finer Things 